Sydney: Multiple Personalities at MOP

MOP's move to the old Esa Jaske Gallery space has proved a good thing and cements its status as a SOCS fixture that hopefully is here to stay. It's one of the few ARI's to successfully make the transition to the 'mainstram fringe', and this is no doubt due to the commitment, taste and dedication of MOP's committee, and the consitently interesting and risky work they show. Collectors buying work by MOP's emergent artists have a good chance of making a wise investment.

Multiple Personality
Adrienne Doig, Matthew Hopkins, Robin Hungerford, Sari Kivinen, Mat de Moiser, Ms & Mr, Luke Roberts

and Anastasia Zaravinos Numb
MOP Projects, Chippendale
until 7 October

Left: © Luke Roberts, Pope Alice at Giza. Courtesy the artist and MOP Sydney.

Curated by the ubiquitous Daniel Mudie Cunningham, Multiple Personality, according to the press release "brings together artists whose work engages with ideas of persona and the multiple". It's a small show, and consequently struggles to achieve a critical mass around its curatorial theme, but this is more a comment on the space limitations than on the individual work. The Luke Roberts/Pope Alice pieces are not really a good indicaton of this artist's rich and textured installation/performance practice, and it's a shame that most of the DVD/video works rely on plasma screens (as opposed to projections), with the exception of the confronting Gallery 2 video, Numb by Anastasia Zaravinos. Whatever you think of this work, the darkened room and wall-size projection certainly enhance the viewing experience. LF's overrall fave is Adrienne Doig's Australiana series of kitsch embroidery pieces. We'd love to see this curator and these artists with a couple of floors at the MCA and a proper production budget, but until then, more power to MOP.